Means and method of loading buildings for moving



G. R. KRESS Nov. 26, 1929.

MEANS AND METHOD OF LOADING BUILDINGS FOR MOVING Filed Ap il 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 GrroemsY NOV. 26, 1929. KRESS I 1,737,250

MEANS AND METHOD OF LOADING BUILDINGS FOR MOVING :3, 656126518. Muss H-rroeusy Patented Nov. 26, 1929 IvIEANS AND METHOD OF LOADING BUILDINGS FOR MOVING Application filed April 3, 1929. Serial No. 352,e72.'

This invention relates to the art of moving buildings and pertains more directly to a method and apparatus for moving buildings in which the concentrated load of the building is carried by the walls, which are supported by suitable foundations.

The invention is especially adapted for use in moving buildings of this nature a comparatively short distance and in. a straight line in a manner such that the building is supported by its original foundation when being moved and in which a part of the building may be supported by its original foundation after it has been moved to its final position.

The invention is, of course, not restricted to this particular class of work. It may be used in moving a building any desired distance in a straight line or, with a modified bracing support, it may be employed to turn the building angularly from its original alignment.

It has heretofore been the common practice in moving buildings of this nature to first provide an understructure for the building,

which consists of a plurality of cross members extending transversely below the walls which are parallel to the direction in which the building is to be moved, such cross members being supported by main timbers which extend throughout the entire length of the building and are supported'by rollers which are carried by shoes mounted upon cribbing, which is placed below the building.

The process of forming this understructure demands considerable skill on the part of the workmen, in that the cross timbers must be gradually worked from an angular position to a transverse position below the walls, which requires a gradual excavation of sections of 43 the foundation or of the wall structure and an intermediate removal and replacing of jacks during such excavation.

After the cross timbers and the main timbers have been positioned, the building is raised by means of jacks to the required elevation, and the jacks are then replaced by the cribbing which carries the shoes and wedges supporting the main timbers. The wedges are used to place the main timbers in firm engagement with the cross timbers and consethe same under-structure, and by which the bins; such as is'ordinarily placed below the ,be vertically adjusted to compensate for any k quently provide a solid support for the building, but there is no way, except by adjustment of the wedges, in which to compensate for any settlement which may occur in the cribbing members. i

After the building has been moved 'to the desired position, the cribbing members must be replaced by jacks, and the building then lowered through the medium of the jacks onto its new foundation. This process not only endangers the workmen connected with the movement of the building, but it has also been very awkward to carry out without skilled labor, and subjects the building structure to danger from cracking, due to the possibility of settlement in the cribbing. This process also requires a double use of jacks, once when the understructure is installed, and again when the understructure is removed.

It is a primary object of my invention to produce a method of moving'buildings and means by which this method may be effected, in which the building structure is raised, moved and. lowered through the medium of building may, if desirable, be moved to its new locatlon, and a new foundation set' thereunder WltllOllt changing the elevation of the building.

It is a further object of the invention to eliminate the use of cross timbers which ex tend throughout the entire width of the building, main timbers which extend throughout the entire length of the building, and the cribmain timbers. I

It is a still further object of the invention to produce a supporting structure which'may inequalities in load distribution and for any settling which may occur due to the transposition of a part of the weight of the building to a new support. It is a noteworthy feature of the invention that the supporting structure embodies longitudinally movable members, which are vertically adjustable and which may be readily removed after the building has been advanced to its final position and the new foundation of the formation so as to prevent the possi-- structure used in my invention embodies a plurality of short beam sections which are positioned bene-athor setin those walls of the building which are parallel to the direction in which the building is to be moved. These beam sections extend a short distance within the region surrounded by the walls and are adapted to be supported by the foundation of the building and an auxiliary supporting track which, in turn, is supported in a manner such that the weight carried by the track is distributed to the ground above which thetrack is supported and to a side surface bility of crushing, due to an uneven distribu tion of load upon the foundation.

It is a further object of the invention toprovide bracing means which are interposed between the beam sections beneath opposite parallel walls to prevent the possibility of bulging in the walls during the movement of the building, and a further noteworthy feature of the invention is a modified form of bracing construction which is preferably used only in the event that the building is to be turned from its original alignment.

Further advantages in my invention and other objects attending its production will be better understood from the following descri tion of the accom an in drawin s which are chosen for illustrative purposes only, and in which Fig. 1 may be considered as a plan section taken through the walls of a building structure which is to be moved by the method and apparatus referred to above. Fig. 2 is an elevational section which may be considered as having been taken substantially in a plane represented by the line 22 inFig. 1.

Fig. 3 isa sectional View showing the outside wall section which has been provided with the under structure embodying my invention.

Fig. 4 is an elevationalview similar to Fig. 3, but illustrates the manner in which the wall is finally supported prior to the movement of the building.

Fig. 5'is a plan sectionof a building, showing a modified form of bracing structure'a-nd designed for use in turning the building from its original alignment, and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged plan section illustrating a'preferred manner in which the bracing structure is attached to the beam sections. 7

More, particularly describing the invention as herein illustrated, reference numeral 11 may be considered as indicating a building 2 comprising side wall structures 12, and 12 and a rear wall 13. The building is illustrated in Fig. 2 as being provided with floor joists 14 and an intermediate beam 16, upon which the floor joists rest.

The wall structures 12 and 12 may be thought of as comprising wall sections 17 and 17 and foundations 18 and 18.

In moving a building of this character by means of my process, the first step is to provide a series of openings 20 in the wall structure 12, such openings, for the purpose of illustration, being shown as formed between the wall sections 17, 17 and the foundations 18, 18. The bottoms of these openings are aligned in the same horizontal plane by placing cement therein, as indicated at 21. A series of track sections 22 are then placed upon the cement 21 in the manner illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3.

It will be understood by those familiar with the art that buildingsof this character are constructed with a factor of safety of from two to four, so that the removal of these openings does not endanger the building, but in order that the load of the building may be distributed over the largest possible area during its movement, I consider it preferable to provide at points adjacent the foundations 18 and 18 a set of parallel auxiliary supporting structures indicated by reference numerals 23 and 23'.

The supporting structures 23 and 23 are Mounted upon the supporting plates 24'.

and 24 are jacks generally indicated by reference numerals 27 and 27.

These jacks are associated with shores 28 and 28', connected by braces 29, 29, and so positioned as to press firmly against the up-.

ri ht plates 25 and 25.

Mounted upon the shores 28 and 28, I

show what may be termed auxiliary suppor ing plates .30 and 30, which carry auxiliary tracks 31 and 31. The jacks 27 and 27 are so adjusted as to place the upperrsurfaces of auxiliary tracks 31 and 31 in horizontal alignment with the upper surfaces of the socalled stationary tracks 22;

. Setsof rollers, indicated by reference numerals 33'and 33, are-mounted upon the sta- 'tionary tracks and the auxiliary tracks in the manner lllustrated 1n Flgs. 1 and 2, and

these rollers supportplates or shoes 34 and 34, carrying jacks 35, 35', which, in turn, are:

adapted to support short beam sections 40 and 40, which extend below the top of the openings 20. V i

The beam sections 40 and 40' support .plates 41 and 41', such plates comprising forms carrying cement, indicated by reference numeral 42.

It will be understood that in the assembly of this unit, the cement 42 is pressed firmly into engagement with the top of the openings 20, so that it provides .a medium for uniformly distributing the weight of the walls upon the supporting structure.

As a safety measure, to guard the building against any damage which might occur in the event of an inadvertent stripping of threads in a jack, I propose to use a plurality of blocks 44, positioned below the beam sections 40 and 40.

From the foregoing description of this construction, it will be apparent that this understructure embodies supporting means which is longitudinally movable through the medium of the rollers 83, and is vertically adjustable through the medium of jacks 35, and that the beam sections 40, are of such length that they may be easily positioned without the use of skilled labor, and that the basement space or the space excavated beneath the building is not filled with the cribbing construction and the longitudinally extending main timbers, such as have always been used heretofore in the movement of buildings of this nature.

For the purpose of bracing the movable understructure and, further, for the purpose of providing a support for the floor joists 14, I consider it preferable to extend several of the short beam sections to an intermediate point, as indicated at and to connect such sections through the medium of a center tie plate 51 and bolts 52. This construction is, perhaps, best illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

After the building has been supported in this manner, it will be apparent that the understructure provides a support in which the weight of the building is distributed between the auxiliary supporting members 35 and the 7 sections of the foundation above which the track sections 22 are placed.

The position and the arrangement of the auxiliary supporting members 23are such that th load carried thereby is adaptedto press against the inner surface of the foundation and to prevent the possibility of the foundations crushing due to an ui'iequal dis tribution of load while the building is being moved.

After this supporting structure has been positioned and securely adjusted, the sections of the wall indicated by reference numeral 57 which are between the openings 20 are removed. The bottoms of these new openings 57 are provided vwith track sections 22 which are similar to and are placed in horizontal alignment with the track sections 22 on the wall openings 20, after which the building may be considered as being supported ready for movement.

Assuming that the building is to be moved in a rearward direction, I consider it prefer able to modify somewhat the supporting structure which is placed beneath the rear end of the walls, in that this structure indicated by reference numerals 58 and 58 is placed with the short beam members 59 and 59, extending parallel to the direction in which the building is to be moved and below the end wall 13.

It will be understood that if the building is to be moved only a short distance, the new foundation is simpl extended rearwardly parallel with the original foundation upon which the building was supported, and that the track sections and the auxiliary tracks are extended with such new foundation to an extent which will admit the'movement of the building to its new position.

After the building has been moved to its new location, its placement upon a new foundatlon 1s substantially the reverse of the procedure described above.

The rail sections 22 between the sections of longitudinally supporting structure are first removed, and the spaces between the bottom of the wall and the top of the foundationare lled with a suitable structural material, such as concrete. This material is packed solidly into these spaces and is allowed to set and harden sufliciently to support the weight of the building.

The movable supports are then removed by lowering the vertically adjustable members (jacks) and lifting the beam sections, acks, rolls, shoes and track sections from below the wall. The remainder of the open space between the walls and the foundation 'is then filled with concrete.

In Figs. 5 and 6, I show a modified form of bracing construction, which is preferably used only in the event the building is to be turned from its original alignment. I

This bracing construction may be described as consisting of a rectangular frame 60, provided with bracesbl, the two longitudinally. extending edges of such frame comprising channels or suitable beams 62and 62, which are connected through the medium'of angles 65 with the beam sections 40* in the manner illustrated in Fig. 6} This unit embodies a rigid bracing structure which permits the building to be turned during its movement.

It'will be apparent fronithe foregoing description that this invention embodies a new and useful method and apparatus for'supporting building structures for moving, in

which the use of crosstimbers and main timbers 1s eliminated.

lit will also be apparent that the vertically adjustable and longitudinally movable supports, including the jacks 35 and the rollers 33 provide a supporting structure which can be used not only to elevate the building and lower it into lts new position, but which also may be used to compensate for any variation;

herein described and illustrated one embodi-.

ment and modification of the invention and described a preferred manner in which the under-structure embodying my invention may be used, the invention is not limited to the precise construction and procedure set forth, but includes within its scope whatever changes fairly come within the spirit of the V appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A supporting structure for use in moving buildings embodying: a series of verti cally adjustable supporting members positioned in substantial alignment with the wall of said building and in spaced relation with each other below and in engagement with the wall structure of said building; rollers under said supporting members; and means for supporting said rollers.

2. A' supporting structure for use in moving buildings embodying: a series of vertically adjustable supporting members posi-.

tioned in spaced relation with each other below and in engagement with the wall structure of said building; rollers under said supporting members; andmeans, comprising a vertically adjustable track, for supporting said rollers.

3. A supporting structure for use in moving buildings embodyingr a series of verti cally adjustable supporting members positioned in spaced relation with each other below and in engagement with the wall structure of said building; rollers under said supporting members; and means, comprising a part of said wall structure and a vertically adjustable track, for supporting said, rollers.

4. In'combination with the foundation and the wall of a building, a supporting structure for use in moving said building embodying: a stationary track .onsaid foundation in par- 'allel relation therewith; rollers on said stationary track; and vertically adjustable supporting members mounted on said rollers'below said Wall and adapted to support said wall. v

5. In combination with the foundation and the wall of a building, a supporting structure for use in moving said building embodying; a stationary track on said foundation; a vertically adjust-able auxiliary track adjacent said foundation; roller members mounted on said stationary track and said auxilary track; and vertically adjustable supportmg means mounted on said roller members .below said wall and adapted to support said wall.

6. In combination with the foundation and the wall of a building, a supporting structure for use in moving said building embodying: a track on said-foundation; auxiliary supporting means abutting against a side surface of said'foundation; an auxiliary track on said auxiliary supporting means; and roller members and wall supporting means associated therewith, mounted upon said tracks below said wall and adapted to support said wall.

7. In combination with the foundation and the wall of a building, a supporting structure for use in moving said building embodying: a track on said foundation; auxiliary supporting means abutting against a side surface of said foundation; an auxiliary track on said auxiliary supporting means; roller members mounted on said tracks; and wall supporting means mounted on said roller members below said wall and adapted to support said wall. v

8. In combination with the foundation and the wall of a building, a supporting structure for use in moving said building embodying: a track on said foundatiomauxiliary supporting means abutting against a side surface of said foundation; an auxiliary track on said auxiliary supporting means; roller members mounted on said tracks; and wall supporting means, comprising jacks, mounted on said roller members below said Wall and adapted to support said wall.

9. In combination with the foundation and the wall of a building, a supporting structure for use in moving said building embodying:

a track on said foundation; auxiliary supporting means abutting against a side surface of said foundation; an auxiliary track on said auxiliary supporting means; roller members on said tracKs;-plates on sald rollers; jacks on said plates;and beam sections mounted on said jacks below said Wall for supporting said wall. 1 a

10. In combination with parallel sections of the foundation and the corresponding parallel walls of'a building, a supporting structure for use in moving said building embodying tracks on saidfoundation sections; a plurality of shortbeam sections below said walls and adapted to support same; means comprising rollers and aclis mounted above said tracks and below said beam sections for transmitting the weight of said alls to said tracks;

and bracin means connecting part of the beam sections under one of said walls with corresponding beam sections under the other of said walls.

11. In combination with parallel sections of the foundation and the corresponding parallel walls of a building, a supporting structure for use in moving said building embodying: a plurality of short beam sections mounted below each of said walls; movable means mounted on said foundation and adapted to support said beam sections; and bracing means interposed between and connected with the beam sections under .one of said walls and the beam sections under the other of said walls.

12. In combination with the foundation and the wall of a building, a supporting structure for use in moving said building embodying: jacks supporting said wall; and longitudinally movable members mounted on said foundation and supporting said jacks.

13. A method of loading a wall structure for moving which includes: replacing spaced sections of said wall structure with vertically adjustable and longitudinally movable supports which are in substantial alignment with said wall; and removing the sections of said wall structure which are between said movable supports.

14. A method of loading a wall structure for moving which includes: forming openings at spaced intervals in the bottom of said wall structure; aligning the bottoms in said openings with respect to each other; placing track sections in the bottoms of said openings in substantially parallel relation therewith; interposing vertically adjustable and longitudinally movable supports between said track sections and the tops of said openings;

. removing the sections of said wall structure between said openings; and placing track sections in the bottoms of the openings formed by the removal of said wall sections.

15. A method of loading a wall structure for moving which includes forming openings at spaced intervals in the bottom of said wall structure; placing aligned track sections in the bottoms of said openings; placing vertically adjustable and longitudinally movable supports upon said track sections; superposing said supports with forms carrying cement; pressing said cement into firm engagement with the tops of said openings; and removing the sections of said wall structure between said openings.

16. A supporting structure for use in moving buildings, embodying a series of supporting members positioned below and in engagement with the wall structure of said building rollers under said supporting members; and means comprising a vertically adjustable track for supporting said rollers.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 27th day of March, 1929.

GEORGE E. KRESS. 

